


Of Choices

by katikat



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Coda, Episode Related, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 16:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13550931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: Nerds in herds make Jack nervous and Matty has sharp claws. Or, Jack and Matty discuss Mac’s life choices. Coda to ep 213 and also partially to 119. Jack’s POV. (Unbeta'd)





	Of Choices

“Okay, Dalton, spill,” Matty says as she sits down next to him on the stairs in the headquarters’ hallway, a bottle of beer in her hand; they turned his Homecoming “crowning” into a real office party since they haven’t had one in a very long time.

Jack takes a sip from his own bottle and looks down at her, raising his eyebrows. “What?”

“Why do you hate the Korman Challenge so much?” she asks, turning towards him slightly.

Scrunching his face, Jack protests, “I don’t hate–”

“You went to your  _high school reunion_ rather than accompany us to the reservation,” Matty interrupts him. “And you once told me you would rather go to the dentist than meet your old high school buddies. So, what’s your issue with the Challenge? Because you seem to have one. Mac told me you’ve never been there with him and you go with him  _everywhere_!”

Jack grimaces. “I just don’t like robots, is all!”

Matty rolls her eyes. “Come on!”

“Hey!” Jack points a finger at her, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t diss my theory about the upcoming robot apocalypse. I was right this time, wasn’t it?”

“Considering it turned out to be a man-made disaster - just like everything  _else_ we deal with - no, you weren’t,” she tells him, narrowing her eyes, too.

Apparently, two can do the annoyed glare - and hers is much scarier, Jack has to admit. Every time Matty the Hun turns her laser eyes in his direction, he folds. He guesses that’s what makes her so good at her job.

Taking another gulp of bear, he sighs and says, “You’ll think me foolish.”

“That never stopped you from oversharing before,” she points out acerbically.

Jack harrumps. Why does she always make him feel like a schoolboy caught reading porn in the crapper? Awkward and on the verge of blushing. Even when there’s no reason for it. Which this time, there is. Because it is a foolish thing.

“Come on, Dalton!” Matty pokes him in the ribs.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you, just stop poking me!” Jack yelps, glaring at her. Only when he’s sure she’ll keep those claws to herself, does he continue.

“It’s just…” He looks across the hallway to where Mac’s standing, discussing something with Bozer and Riley and several lab technicians, laughing at their jokes. “I’m aware I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, you know? And usually, I don’t really mind because Mac does his damnedest not to make me feel… well,  _inferior_ , but…” He falls silent.

“You still feel that way around others like him?” Matty asks in a much gentler, kinder voice now.

Jack shrugs. It’s embarrassing to talk about, his insecurities. He knows he’s good at what he does, at his thing. When it comes to shooting people, punching them, catching them…  _protecting_ them from harm, that’s  _his_ area of expertise, that’s what  _he_ excels at. But science? No, thank you.

And if it were just that, it wouldn’t be so bad. He would just tell those looking down on him to shove it, he’s never had a problem doing that, even when it got him in trouble, letting his mouth run like that. So he’s a soldier, not a doctor, so what? If those lab rats consider themselves his betters, let them spend a tour in the sandbox, that would knock some common sense into them.

But, well, then there’s Mac…

“He’s a real genius, you know?” Jack whispers, nodding in Mac’s direction; his partner’s explaining something to one of the technicians now, his mouth running a mile a minute, so fast that the poor guy he’s talking to is starting to look rather dazed.

“Yeah, I know,” Matty says, her voice still soft.

“He shouldn’t be here, among us grubs,” Jack says, waving his bottle around to encompass the whole room, himself, Matty and the technicians included. “He’s light years ahead of us. At all times. To see him do science, even when I don’t understand it” –Jack shakes his head, smiling a little– “it seems like a miracle. He should be in a lab somewhere, at MIT or I don’t know where, working on-on getting us to Mars or something similarly remarkable. He should work for a  _real_ think tank and not risk his neck in the field every frickin’ day.”

“He seems pretty content where he is,” Matty objects.

“And he is. He told me so himself, that he’s exactly where he wants to be, that’s why it’s so  _foolish_ , to feel this way,” Jack explains. “I’m  _glad_ he’s here. I’m  _happy_. Being his partner, running around the globe and saving the world, that makes me  _happy_. But when I see him do  _actual science_  - not those spur of the moment improvs he uses to save our butts on a daily basis, but real science, like at the Korman Challenge…”

He pauses and shakes his head. Then, with a grimace, he admits reluctantly, “I don’t like the Challenge and other events like that because they remind me quite pointedly of what Mac could’ve been, still  _could_ be. I see how different he is when he’s among  _his_ people. And I realize just how selfish I am.”

“Selfish?” she asks.

He looks down at her. “If I were truly his friend, if I had his best interests at heart, wouldn’t I try and convince him to go after that? To pursue  _that_ career? He would be safe then and he could do so much  _good_ , Matty!”

“But isn’t that up to him, Jack?” Matty reminds him, leaning in a little. “Like you said, he’s where he wants to be. Wouldn’t it be selfish  _not_ to let him be who he wants to be? Do what he  _wants_ to do? Supporting his decision, helping him reach his potential in the field he  _chose_ ,  _that’s_ what makes you a real friend. Letting  _him_ choose, not choosing  _for_ him.”

Jack lets out a deep sigh. “I get that but… what if in ten years he looks back and-and he  _regrets_ the decisions he made?”

She shrugs. “What if he does? They’ll still have been  _his_ decisions. But let me tell you something, Jack,” she says, and reaching out, she lays one hand on his forearm. “Mac’s a grown man. And he’s been doing this, traipsing around the world and saving lives, for years now. He made his choice before he met either of us. And if Afghanistan and crazy assassins with personal vendettas didn’t change his mind, it’s a safe bet to say he chose his path right.”

Jack  _hmms_ , knowing she’s right. And that he’s being foolish. That’s why he hates talking about these things. Avoid, evade, fudge, that’s his proven tactic.

“You look awfully serious, you two,” Mac says, walking up to them. “What are you talking about?”

“The dangers of nerds moving in herds and letting their dohickeys run amok,” Jack replies, enjoying immensely the annoyed look that flashes across Mac’s face. After seven years, he knows how to rile the kid up.

“You still haven’t let that one go?” Mac grumbles, rolling his eyes. “It was a simple  _sabotage_!”

Jack raises a finger. “Done by a nerd. A  _criminal nerd_! That’s even worse than your average  _everyday nerd_. And if the robot hadn’t actually existed, it wouldn’t have run away in the first place! Mark my words, someone, somewhere’s building an Arnie right now.”

“You’re impossible!” Mac snaps at him, aggravated, yet he sits down, two steps below them, he doesn’t turn and leave. “And I’ll have you know–”

And off he goes on a rant that Jack mostly doesn’t understand but he lets Mac talk anyway simply because he enjoys the passion behind his arguments, however…  _out there_ they seem to him.

Smiling, Jack glances at Matty, and she smiles back.  _See?_ she seems to be saying. And he nods slightly.  _Yeah, I do._


End file.
